ISKCON—Detroit

jaya om visnu-pada paramahamsa parivrajakacarya astottara-sata sri srimad bhaktivedanta gosvami maharaja ki jaya

Dear and Merciful Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept our danḍavats at Your lotus feet. Your lotus feet are the reservoir of mercy for all fallen souls like ourselves where we can bathe in the cool and soothing ocean of devotion and extinguish the burning holocaust of material sense enjoyment. We are fallen rebels trying to exist without serving Krsna, but You have captured us with Your Krsna consciousness movement, Srila Prabhupada, and have stirred up within our covered hearts a desire to relish service at Your lotus feet. Your love for us is beyond any reason, Srila Prabhupada. How can You love us so much, Srila Prabhupada.

If You had not come we would be rotting in the competitive wheel of supremacy, reeking with false ego and pride, with love for no one else but ourselves and immediate associates. But why have You left everything and come here? We did not even know the meaning of the holy person. Why have You come to such a place, Srila Prabhupada, and embraced us? You came and soothed our burning minds with the nectarean ocean of Hare Krsna and fed us delicious Krsna prasadam. Then You raised Your arms magnificently, and it was as if we were being lifted from the darkest hole in the material creation into the blazing sunlight. You have dressed us in eternal spiritual garb, and You have put garlands on us. In our mouths You have put the rose water that has touched the lotus feet of the Lord, and You have moved our arms to the mrdahga and thus commanded the attention of the world to the power and glory of the holy name.

What was there to speak about before You came? What did we have to say to anyone? Now by Your inconceivable mercy we can understand that eternal link of service that exists between every creature in the creation. Srila Prabhupada, Your kindness upon us is paining our hearts because we think that we shall never be able to love You so much in return. But we are trying to propagate sahkirtana all over the midwest for Your pleasure. Lord Krsna has given us a very beautiful temple in a well respected part of the city, and whenever we have ecstatic kirtanas on the front lawn all the cars slow down, and many pull over to watch. The devotees bring them trays of blissful prasadam, and some even venture out and dance with us.

Every day Your vyasasana is cleaned nicely, and during kirtanas we longingly eye Your seat and hope that someday soon You will come and sit there and we will all sit below You at Your feet and listen to Your nectarean words with rapt attention.

Your Guru Maharaj has instructed You to introduce Krsna conscious literature to the western world, so every day we go on sahkirtana and put all of the collections into Your literature funds. Srila Prabhupada, we are feeling so inadequate! We are praying to Lord Krsna to please give us more understanding of what will give You satisfaction. What could we have ever possessed before that kept us from surrendering to Your auspicious smile of bliss, to come and dance in ecstasy and to hear about the wonderful activities of the Lord Krsna? Somewhere from in our covered hearts we are seeing a bud of devotion growing, and we are just hoping that it may one day flower, and that Your lotus feet will walk across them.

You have created a transcendental army, armed with mrdahgas and karatalas and devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and You, His most pure devotee, and we are feeling inspired to traverse this planet and smash the illusion of atheism and voidism. All glories to You, Srila Prabhupada. But for You we would have no courage and strength, but by Your grace we can feel like lions and preach anywhere and everywhere the message of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam as You have taught us. May every word that we speak be pleasurable to You, Srila Prabhupada; may every action of our mind and body be pleasing to You. Only by Your grace can we be budged from our timeless entanglement in material affairs and relish pure unalloyed service to You.

Because we are so fallen, Srila Prabhupada, we cannot glorify You properly, but we are begging that You accept this Vyas Pūja offering and be pleased upon us.

We remain eternally Your servants,

ISKCON-Detroit